For the past several years, many graphic arts
industry analysts and market research firms
have predicted that the growth of digital color
and variable data is about to explode. So far,
however, growth has failed to meet market
expectations. Several hypotheses are associated
with the subdued market growth. The following
factors are most frequently cited:
• Lack of a strong value proposition
for digital color and personalization.
Contributing to this is the relatively
low incidence of documented ROI
metrics for digital color or personalization
for marketing materials.
• Limited availability of accurate data
for targeted or versioned marketing
campaigns. If the data do exist, the
cost associated with transforming data
into a usable form is high.
• The migration to electronic media
options for direct communication
with customers.
As part of the investigation into adoption of
digital color printing technologies, the Printing
Industry Center at RIT embarked on a research
initiative to gain an understanding of the relationship
between the agency, corporate marketing
executive, and print services provider. This
report focuses specifically on how instrumental
the corporate marketing executive is in initiating
the demand for marketing materials that
require digital printing.
Specific research objectives for this study
include:
1. Defining the dynamics between the
corporate marketing executive, the
printer, and the creative agency relative
to media decisions and campaign
direction.
2. Understanding how media are selected
and how print media are perceived
and used within corporations.
3. Evaluating the corporate marketing
executive’s level of digital printing
technology and that individual’s
current use of 1:1 communications
solutions.
4. Understanding how database technologies
are currently used within corporations
and to what extent these technologies
are integrated into corporate
printing capabilities.
5. Defining the measures for campaign
effectiveness utilized by marketing
executives today.
A sample of 1,999 unique records was randomly
selected from the Dun and Bradstreet list.
They were contacted by phone and asked to
participate in a 20-minute interview. Of the
205 completed interviews, there were 55 financial
services firms, 100 manufacturing firms, 21
retail firms and 29 firms classified as “other.”

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Printing Industry Center Research (CIAS)Dedicated to the study of major business environment influences on the printing industry, precipitated by new technologies and societal changes. With the support of RIT, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and our Industry Partners, it is our mission to continue to develop and articulate the knowledge necessary for the long-term economic health of the printing industry.